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What I Learned About What You Want

We’ve got no shortage of ideas for cool projects at LACMA that will help improve the visitor experience, but before we give any of them the green light, we want to be sure they would actually address your needs and desires. To that end, we did an experiment last week: we set up an “Ask Me” table near the Pompeii exhibition, looking to see what visitors would ask for if they weren’t prompted. (We’re also doing onsite and, soon, online surveys.) It was a one-day-only experience, and boy was it enlightening. It was also a lot of fun—I don’t get to interact with the general public as much as I'd like and it feels great to chat with people who are as excited about art as I am.

We weren’t surprised to learn that our visitors need directions; it’s a big campus after all, and not terribly easy to navigate. What was surprising though is that people wanted to know what to see. They also wanted to know what, if anything, is free on campus, from our wi-fi to our Pay What You Wish program to our first Tuesday program. (All are indeed free, by the way.) Then there were the more playful questions posed to us—hey, all the sign said was “Ask Me”; who said it had to pertain to the museum?

What is Lil’ Wayne’s birthday?

Where can I get a cup of tea and great piece of chocolate cake?

Do you have directions to the store that sells buttons on Beverly Blvd?

Happy 86th birthday to Frank Gehry! What would the world be without the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, or so many other groundbreaking buildings? We look forward to celebrating Gehry’s impact with a retrospective opening September 13: http://bit.ly/LACMAgehry